#and then maybe the next episode the rest of the cast finds out

[subtlehaz]

if this has been said already I’m so sorry but you know what I would LOVE? absolutely froth at the mouth for? is if we get a little montage teaser of Buck and Eddie respectively stumbling into their homes, and all you see are snippets of their faces hands mouths belts fingers feet - nothing too wide shot though. The viewer assumes it’s them with partners (perhaps implied Nat/ Marisol as we were left with last season) but, again, all we see are the close ups, nothing too revealing except for Buck/ Eddie’s faces every now and then but no clear shot of their partners. You see them fumbling with clothes and giggling and maybe a meeting of lips but! NO CLOSE UP! It’s implied the viewer must already know who it is. Even better if this montage is at the start of the episode.

The episode continues on and maybe we see Buck and Eddie giggly/ texting. Running off to answer the phone (kind of like how Buck was when he got a therapist and everyone thought it was a gf). We see messages sent but not the contact name, or maybe a contact name that’s just a pet name or a nickname. Maybe the 118 even starts teasing them about their relationships etc. Then at the very end of the episode there’s a call back to the montage, or maybe not, but either way there’s finally a wide shot that reveals MUAH big kiss between! You guessed it! Buck and Eddie! Together! Kissing EACH OTHER!

Anyway I’m sure we’ll be lucky if Buddie goes canon /at all/ but if they do…. I wanna see it like this.

[icanhearcolors]

I really love the idea of Tav drawing Astarion to show him what he looks like, could you maybe write something about that? ^-^

Hiiiiii! I can indeed thank you for the request :b

Welcome back to another episode of Abby tries to write something short and can't make it less than two thousand words.

EVERYBODY LOOK AT THIS GIF CUZ KJNKBJHGFRRETFO

Sorry I think I got possessed for a second there

Word count: 2.1k

The night sky had never been this gorgeous in the city. In Baldur’s Gate, the upper city was illuminated by mage lights that adorned the cobblestone paths. The light was bright enough that the citizens split into two factions, the night life and the day. Even those without dark vision could operate solely at night in total comfort if they chose to. In the lower city, fires were always burning, sending plumes of rich smelling smoke into the air constantly, obscuring the night sky.

But out here, under the blue light of a full moon, you can see every star and constellation in vivid detail. A soft purr-like snore hums against your back, and you brush a hand over the downy feathers of the owlbear cub you rescued from the goblins. He was getting so big. If he gets half as big as his mother was it is going to become a challenge to travel with him. It’s a sacrifice you’re more than willing to make. Besides, you could always cast the reduction spell on him in a pinch if any problem arose. He sleeps curled around your back, alongside his friend Scratch the dog, whose fluffy white head is resting in your lap.

The campfire crackles a few yards ahead as Wyll adds a few logs, humming a Baldurian tune you recognize but can’t quite recall the name of.

For the first time since the nautiloid crash you feel peaceful. Safe.

You turn your gaze to Astarion’s tent, probably for the thousandth time tonight, and stare at his profile as he flips through the pages of the seemingly sentient necromancy tomb you had discovered a few tendays prior. A faint green light curls from the pages like mist, illuminating half his face and casting the rest in shadow. You’d never really understood the saying “so beautiful it hurts'' until you met Astarion. An unknown emotion compresses your chest in a way that makes it hard to breathe sometimes when you look at him. You think it started out as empathy. Every detail of Astarion’s story he revealed to either warn you about vampires or shock you for his own amusement painted a picture of a horrific life full of trauma and misery that you found hard to reconcile with your enigmatic companion. He was always the first to crack a joke. He laughed loudly and on a constant basis. From an outsider’s view he’d appear almost carefree. Happy even. You wondered now how much of that laughter was real, and how much of it was the armor he’d donned a couple hundred years ago when he breached the surface of his own grave. You recall a conversation you had with him a while back about vanity. In his two hundred and forty years, give or take, he’d only been able to see his reflection for thirty nine. An incredibly young age to die for a high elf, and a small fraction of his life-span. Even if any fuzzy memory remained of that past life, it was no longer accurate anyway. 

He was something different now. 

Your eyes slide to your pack. You had found something yesterday- something rare indeed. A merchant selling art supplies outside of the city. You had everything you needed to give Astarion something you took for granted every day. His reflection.

Slowly, both as to not disturb your sleeping friends and not alert the elf in question to your actions, you slip a hand inside the bag. Your fingers find a pencil easily, the paper next, and you begin to draw. At first you draw him as he is, using his current unmoving form as a model, but you had been quite the artist in your time in Baldur’s gate, and you finished that drawing almost too quickly. So, you draw him again from memory, this time with his head thrown back, face scrunched with laughter. Then you draw his frown, his smirk, the condescending expression he so often gives Gale, the softer one you don’t quite understand that he reserves for you. You don’t hide or downplay his vampiric traits. You draw him exactly as he is, blending colored chalk to capture every shade of red in his eyes. Time falls away as you lose focus on everything but your work. Eventually, some time much later, the cramps in your muscles wake you from your trance. You stretch, and your knees, shoulders, and spine crack loudly. Scratch wakes up, stands, shakes himself off, and trots into the bushes. Your owlbear notices, and trills a soft sound before standing too, following him into the woods. You smile as you watch them amble off, happy they get along so well. You turn back to your drawings and examine them with new eyes. You expected to feel excitement, pride maybe, but instead a cold feeling ties your insides in knots as you realize you can never give these to Astarion. The drawings are some of your best work, but they’re also… reverential. A glimpse of Astarion through your eyes. Anyone who saw them would think you had drawn your lover, not your less-than-trusting involuntary traveling companion. He would take one look and realize exactly what you’ve been hiding from him since- well since you met him. You were infatuated with the vampire, and somehow, miraculously, despite the fact that you’d slept with him once already,  he seemed to be unaware.

He was going to find out.

You eye the campfire, half tempted to toss the whole pad of paper into it.

In your panic you turn your gaze toward Astarion’s tent.

He’s not there. 

His tent is open, and no one is inside it. You can see that from here. 

Somehow- maybe it’s the tadpole, or maybe it’s because you’ve spent so much time with the rogue, you realize you know exactly where he is.

Slowly, as if to avoid instigating an attack from a stalking predator, you turn your head to find Astarion standing behind you, peering over your shoulder.

Even though you were expecting it, you still startle out of your skin. Astarion drops to his knees on the ground in front of you and claps his hand over your mouth just in time to muffle your screech. You both look at eachother with wide eyes before turning slowly and in unison towards a sleeping Lae’zel. She’s frowning in her sleep, which isn’t unusual for her. She twitches, and then rolls over to her other side, sound asleep. You sigh in relief, through your nose because your mouth is still covered by Astarion’s hand. You swat it away and throw him a withering glare.

“What the in the hells is wrong with you?” You whisper-shout.

Astarion presses his lips together and turns his head away from you for a moment, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

“Oh yeah, laugh it up. If she’d woken up we’d be dead right now.”

“Look it’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention. You haven’t moved in almost four hours, I wanted to know what you could possibly be writing.”

You clutch the drawing pad to your chest and swallow nervously, eyes darting around for any glimpse of something you can use to distract him.

Unfortunately as you’ve come to realize, regardless of what they used to be, once turned vampires become lethal predators. Astarion sees your darting eyes, catches the scent of your fear, and you see the shift in his demeanor. 

His movements become slower, more fluid, as he tilts his head in malicious curiosity.

He reminds you sometimes of the big cats that roam the mountains of Faerûn. Once something captures his attention, there’s little use in trying to pull him off the hunt.

Still, you’re going to try.

“I’m not writing.”

His eyes flick to your hands, dusted in red powder, then back up. He hums.

“Drawing then. What have you been drawing Tav?” 

His voice is darker now. Persuasive. 

“It’s- uh… personal.”

Astarion lowers himself fully to the ground and stretches his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his arms. 

“A personal drawing?” He purrs, “Well now I have to see it.”

“No-” You cover your face with your hand, “That’s not what I meant and you know that Astarion.”

A moment of silence passes, so you lift your hand away from your face.

Astarion is gazing at you with that unknown expression again. His eyes look earnest, a soft smile on his lips, when he speaks the words that are your undoing.

“You can trust me, Tav. I already know how talented you are, you don’t have anything to worry about. Just show me.”

You sigh, and his smile grows. He knows he’s won.

Bastard.

“Fine you can see my drawings, but I need to tell you-”

The drawing pad is already out of your hands, your permission apparently all that was keeping Astarion from snatching it away from you.

Your heart stops at his first look at the paper. He stills, flipping through the drawings slowly, his eyes tracing every detail with excruciating slowness.

Finally, he puts you out of your misery.

“I-” He clears his throat, not meeting your eyes. “These are...”

He grips the paper tightly when you attempt to take the drawing pad back from him. You’re confused, and a little… well actually very hurt for a reason beyond your understanding.

Does he hate it? Did you overstep?

“What are you thinking?”

Astarion finally looks at you, his expression guarded. He points to the drawings.

“Who is this?”

Oh.

You’re shocked silent. You should have anticipated this. Of course Astarion wouldn’t recognize himself in your drawings. That was the entire reason you drew him in the first place.

“He’s um-” You fall silent again.

Astarion looks both terrified and heartbreakingly hopeful. You’re sure he already knows the answer. You’ve spoken to him at length about what he is. You know that he knows he’s the only vampire spawn you’ve ever met, and you’ve been traveling together without much separation ever since.

He still needs to hear you say it.

You stare at your wringing hands in your lap and take a deep breath.

“I remembered that conversation we had about how you don’t know what you look like, you just have to go off of what other people tell you, and I bought these art supplies earlier and I haven’t drawn in so long, I used to all the time but with everything that’s going on- and I meant to just draw you once but I wanted you to know what you looked like when you smiled too and then I got a little carried away I’m so-”

You don’t hear him move. Your rambling speech stutters to a stop at the sensation of a hand on your cheek. Astarion hooks his thumb under your chin and lifts your head just enough to press his lips to yours.

Your eyes widen in surprise and then flutter closed. All thoughts cease, replaced by a languid warmth that melts you into a puddle on the ground.

You tilt your head and kiss him back, a tingling sensation racing down your spine. His hand slides from your cheek into your hair, and he gently pulls your head back, deepening the kiss in a way that steals the air from your lungs.

All too soon he pulls back, just a few inches, and smiles.

A real, genuine smile that shows his teeth and lights his eyes. You think you would do terrible terrible things to see that smile more often.

He brings his other hand up to frame your face, holding you in place as if he’s afraid you’ll pull away.

“Thank you.” He says simply, his voice hoarse.

“This is a gift. I won’t forget it.”

He repeats the words he said to you what feels like centuries ago, the night you found out he was a vampire and agreed to feed him. 

“You’re welcome.” Is all you can think to say.

With absolutely no warning at all Astarion drops his hands to your shoulders and yanks you toward him just in time. A pillow, rather violent in its velocity, grazes the back of your head in its catapult into the forest. Somewhere in the dark woods, Scratch yelps.

“Next time it will be my sword Isticks”

Growls Lae’zel from her bed roll on the other side of the campfire.

You turn back to Astarion with an amused but also terrified expression, and he smiles knowingly, rolling his eyes.

He picks the drawings up off the ground from where they’d been scattered at some point and gathers them in one hand. He stands, hoisting you up with his free hand, and practically drags you across the camp to his tent.

You’ll have to draw him more often.

[spenceragnewfics]

spencer and reader fake wedding on tntl

I hope you enjoy! This also helped me write something I wanted to featuring Court's birthday TNTL!

WEDDING BELLS?! | Spencer Agnew x F!Reader

TW: Cuteness is all I can think of.

Word Count: 1.3k

Description: Filming a birthday TNTL is always special, especially when Y/N and Spencer can do a joke poking at their best friends. 

Try Not To Laugh is one of Smosh’s biggest series that the channel does. It’s one of Y/N’s favorites to film because it’s never the same, every episode is different and fun to film. As one of the newest cast members, Y/N was still nervous to film the show but today was going to be different because her boyfriend Spencer was filming the episode as well. It was a very special one because it’s for Courtney’s birthday.

Sitting on one of the stools, she’s scrolling through her phone when she feels arms wrap around her from behind. Her face lights up when she sees the familiar tattoos and smells the ever familiar cologne, “Hey, Spence. Whatcha doin?” She asks, leaning her head back onto his shoulder.

“Just seeing what my beautiful girlfriend is doing.” He says, rubbing her arms as she smiles at him. “Well, I’m just waiting for my amazing boyfriend but I can’t see to find him. Have you seen him?” He rolls his eyes as she laughs, he playfully frowns before walking away with his head down. “No, no, babe. I’m sorry. Come back.” She gets off the stool and follows him. She hugs him from behind when he stops, resting her head on his shoulder, “You’re so mean to me.” He says, faking to be sad but she doesn’t know that.

“I’m sorry baby, I was just joking.” He turns around with a big smile on his face, “I know, I was messing with you.” She huffs as he pulls her into his arms. “Okay, you two are sickeningly cute. We get it.” Angela says as she walks on set. “Awe, Ang, I can help you find someone.” Y/N suggests, “Nah, I’m okay. This is plenty for me for now.” The two women smile at each other before more people start to come in.

It’s not much longer until everyone is on set that needs to be there so they can start shooting. Y/N stands between Courtney and Spencer to do the intro, “Woohoo. It’s Courtney’s birthday!” Ian says as the entire cast and crew cheer for them.

“So we, we have a very special try not to laugh today. We have so many people, including maybe some surprises.” Ian continues, making a silly voice towards the end. Courtney laughs then mocks him before he continues, “It’s gonna be a big one. Courtney, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling extremely nervous, I haven’t seen any of you all day until literally two minutes ago. So it’s, we’re doing like shock therapy. Here we go! We’re going in, we’re diving in!.” They say, their nerves slightly showing. “All right, let’s dive in guys, let’s go!” Ian says as everyone cheers then moves around. 

The first four on the stools are Shayne, Courtney, Y/N, and Spencer. Amanda starts it off, doing a very good security guard impression and everyone is able to hold their water in until someone dressed as Freddy Fazbear pops out. Y/N screams when she sees it, spitting out her water while Courtney spits out theirs from laughing. Shayne and Spencer spit their water out a second later.

It turns out that Trevor is in the Freddy suit which makes Y/N surprised. “I would’ve never guessed it was Trev. Honestly.” She says, laughing as Trevor talks about how he can’t see anything.

Ian goes next, using a speaker to play some sound effects. Courtney, Y/N and Spencer laughed and then suddenly it’s Ian reading straight from Twilight. Y/N grips Spencer’s arm as she starts laughing even more, “I can’t, I can’t” She says breathless as she holds onto him for support.

Next is Olivia, who makes everyone laugh with her gagging and farting before she comes out as Boneless. She gives Courtney two paintings she did before leaving.

Erin D walks out dressed as Gerald Cakes and does a little and turns before saying “I’m on my way.” Making all four spit out their water as she twerks. 

Damien is next and Tommy walks out first. The four wait until Damien walks out dressed like Baron Harkonnen, he doesn’t even get to do anything as Y/N already spits out her water from laughing. The bit gets better as it goes on, everyone spits out their water before it’s over.

Vida comes out next with a ukulele. “There’s nowhere to- actually. There’s a lot of places to masterbate when you’re at Smosh.” She sings, making everyone shocked. Courtney covers their mouth while Shayne turns away. Y/N and Spencer look at the crew shocked while she grabs his hand.

“Just don’t tell my boss.” Vida sings, Shyne spits out his water almost immediately. “And as my gift for you, I’ll share a few.” Y/N squeezes Spencer’s hand, getting ready for whatever is about to happen.

“So the crying bathroom’s obvious and the voice over booth.” Courtney spits out her water at the one. “You can use Ian’s office, just make sure Ian’s through.” Spencer lets the water out of his mouth, shocked that this is going on. Y/N remains the only one with water in her mouth.

“On the games stage, you can master your moose.” Y/N spits out her water at that as Spencer quickly shakes his head. “Dear god, please no!” She begs looking at the camera. Vida soon ends her song to applause as everyone laughs, shocked at the whole thing.

Brett Miller, comes out and sings Court happy birthday as Marylin Monroe. The final one before they switch out is Bailey. Emily gives the all clear and the four wait, she doesn’t walk out from behind the divider.

“So, guys, do you have any plans after this?” Bailey’s voice asks from behind and they look to see her dressed as Bystander. They all spit out their water as Y/N and Courtney scream.

Angela runs out screaming, “He won’t leave me alone.” The two do the bystander bit and after it’s time to switch out.

Y/N, Shayne, and Spencer walk behind the divider as Ian and Olivia sit with Court. “So, Spence, I think we should do our bit together.” She suggests, looking at her boyfriend excited. “What do you have in mind? You look very mischievous.” He asks, a little nervous.

She whispers the plan in his ear, making him smirk as the plan is genius. “Ooo, Tommy! Come here!” Y/N says, pulling the man in and she fills him in on the plan.

A few minutes later it’s Spencer and Y/N’s turn. Tommy walks out first, a bow tie around his neck and book in hand. Courtney looks at him confused until Y/N walks out in a white outfit with a veil on her head. Spencer then walks out with a tie around his neck, the crew screams in excitement as they try to see if what’s about to happen, happens.

“Dearly beloved cast and crew, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the Courtney wannabe and Shayne wannabe.” Courtney spits out their water as they laugh. “Do you take each other to be wedded husband and wife?” Tommy asks, “I do.” Spencer and Y/N say in unison.

“By the power vested in me and the state of Smosh. You are officially copycats!” He declares as Spencer dips Y/N and kisses her. The cast and crew cheer as they stand up straight. “We really aren't�� going to beat the rumors now huh?” Y/N jokes and Spencer shrugs before they walk back behind the divider.

Once the two are behind it, they start laughing as he pulls her into his arms. “Maybe that’ll be real one day.” She looks at him with a raised brow, “Maybe? I was hoping for definitely.” He chuckles before kissing her cheek.

[alloftheimagines]

joel miller | shelter

masterlist | taglist | ko-fi

note: this can be read as part two of survive

words: 2.4k

warnings: 18+. please do not continue if you're uncomfortable with discussions surrounding rape/sexual assault, violence, blood, and cannibalism. spoilers.

synopsis: after the events of episode eight in which reader takes ellie's place as david's hostage, joel finds a cabin where he can take care of you in the middle of the woods. hurt, comfort, and fluff ensues. reader x joel, reader x ellie, and joel x ellie interactions, but mostly joel cleaning you up after a horrific experience.

tags: @sweetbabygirlsworld @m4tthewmurd0ck

It feels like you’re walking for miles before you find the abandoned, dusty cabin in the middle of the woods.

Your teeth chatter as Joel leads you inside, Ellie following behind. The smell is stale and it isn’t much warmer, but you’re out of the snow and that’s enough for now. When you see snow, you see blood, too. 

“Alright, here we go,” Joel says, propping his gun against a ratty couch and looking around. 

Ellie shuts the door on the howling wind, raising her brows. “Not bad.”

“Let’s see if we can find anything to clean up with.” Joel begins searching the small cupboards above a sink still stacked with plates. 

You don’t know what to do, don’t know how to think about anything but the blood in your hair. His blood. You need it off you, need to rid yourself of any hint that he ever existed, ever hurt you. Absently, you scratch your arms and wander over to the fireplace. Charred tinder and ash sit in the hearth, and beside it, a pile of logs have been stacked haphazardly. You throw a couple in and shrug off your backpack, your fingers trembling as you find a lighter. Anything to help you feel something other than this yawning emptiness, this black hole, this disgust and this fear. 

“Fuck, yeah!” Ellie exclaims, yanking her gloves off and warming her hands. You offer a wry smile, perching on the closest couch and trying to focus on the orange glow. 

But then you think of the candles in the restaurant. The way you set David alight with them. The stench of burning clothes and hair as you walked away. 

You close your eyes, your fingers curling so tightly into your palms that they leave marks behind. 

“Hey,” Ellie says softly, kneeling in front of you. “You’re safe now, y’know?”

“I know, kiddo.” You put on a brave face for her benefit, though she’s smart enough to know you’re not okay. “Thanks.”

“What did… What did he do to you?” 

Before you can answer, Joel’s stern voice echoes around the cabin. “Ellie, go see what you can find. There should be a bathroom, washcloths, somethin’.”

Sighing, Ellie offers you a kind expression, which you return, and then she disappears into the next room. 

You cast Joel an impatient look. “You don’t have to do that.” You push off the couch and wander over to him. “How’s your wound? Any pain?”

His jaw ticks, and he shakes his head. “I’m fine.”

“You need to rest.” It was hard to believe he was still standing at all, and you hadn’t missed his bloody knuckles. You wonder what he’d done, who he’d beat just to get to you. James, maybe, and the men David threatened would find them. It’s a miracle any of you are here. 

“You need to drink.” Joel pulls a bottle of water from his pack and hands it to you, watching you carefully like he’s just waiting for you to break. “I’ll go hunting first thing tomorrow. Get you some food.”

You think of the ear in the kitchen, the meat on the plate David offered you, and your stomach turns. Using the counter for support, you take a steady breath. 

“Baby…” Joel is there in an instant, his hand caressing the small of your back. 

“I’m okay,” you lie. 

He hesitates a moment. “Did he…?”

You know what he’s asking. Did he rape you? “No. No. He tried.” A wave of anguish rolls up in you, so thick in your throat that you feel like you might throw up again. “I slaughtered him, Joel. I… I couldn’t stop. There was so much blood.”

Joel’s nostrils flare with suppressed anger, but he pulls you closer, smoothing down your matted, tangled hair. “He deserved it.” 

“I didn’t think I was getting out of there,” you admit, voice cracking with tears. 

“You did, darlin’.” He sighs, wrapping his arms around you. “You got out. I've got you now. You’re safe.”

You’ve never accepted comfort so readily before, always desperate to prove to Joel that you can be just as strong as him, that you can carry his burdens as well as your own. But you’re losing your grip tonight; on yourself and on everything that you know. Something has changed in you after seeing the monstrosities that men like David can commit. It’s like he’s poisoned you, and you can feel it creeping beneath your skin. 

Ellie reappears from the other room, waving a bottle of what looks to be shampoo in her hand. “The bathroom’s well-stocked. And I’m calling dibs on the bed, by the way.”

“Like hell you are,” Joel grumbles, giving you a final squeeze before urging you forward. “C’mon. We’ll clean you up now.”

***

You look in the grimy mirror and don’t recognise yourself. Blood is splattered all over your face, clothes, hair. Your wrists are blistered, angry red welts covering your skin where you tried to wriggle out of your rope ties. 

Joel has sent Ellie back into the other room to warm up more water, and you’re glad for that. 

“You mind if I check that cut on the back of your head first?” Joel asks gently. 

You shake your head, watching his reflection as he moves behind you and separates through your hair to see your injury. You don’t remember how you got it now. You were knocked out by James, but David gave you a beating too before you…

You give a sharp intake of breath as the memories flood back again, and Joel pulls away quickly. “Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“No. You didn’t.” You swallow. “I was just… remembering.” 

Understanding crosses his features. “Sit down,” he offers, as though he knows that you can’t bear to be haunted by your reflection for a moment longer. You do, perching on the edge of the bath. He goes back to checking your injury. 

“It’s not too deep,” he murmurs, his touch feather-light. “Should be okay once we get it clean. ‘S it hurt a lot?”

“No.” Nothing hurts, though you know it should. You can barely focus on anything but the aching heaviness in your chest, the unease in your stomach, the thought that you’ll have to live with this now. Knowing that the world is even more broken than you thought, and it almost killed you. 

“Gonna clean your face first. That okay?”

You nod, and he rolls up his sleeves as he kneels in front of you, wringing out a washcloth in the sink of water he’d warmed by the fire. You want to tell him you can do it yourself, but you can’t. You don’t want to be left alone in this bathroom. You don’t want to watch the blood drip into the water. You don’t want Joel to leave you when you thought you’d lost him for good not too long ago. 

Carefully, he runs his thumb over the bruise on your cheek. “I should'a got there quicker.”

“You were a little busy trying not to die,” you remind him. You take his hand, finally allowing yourself to acknowledge his bruised and bloody knuckles. “They came for you, too?”

He grimaces, pulling away as though ashamed. “Don’t you worry about that. I took care of it.” 

“You always do,” you say, throat feeling raw. “You always take care of us.”

He softens, brushing your hair behind your ear. “You took care of yourself just fine today, baby You shouldn’t have had to, and I’m so… I’m so sorry.”

“Stop saying that. Please.” Tears slip down your cheeks. “It isn’t your fault. Please don’t make this your burden, Joel. This one… this is all mine, and I’ll gladly take it if it means you and Ellie’re okay.”

“We ain’t okay if you’re not.” He wipes your tears away. “I thought… I thought I’d lost you.” Now it’s his voice that fractures, and it leaves you sinking with pain. His pain and your own. “I was so scared. Could barely breathe. I’m never letting that happen again, you hear?”

You can only dip your head as you choke on a sob, wishing you could be stronger. Wishing all of this was easier. 

Joel begins dabbing your face with the washcloth, holding your chin between his thumb and forefinger. You close your eyes when you see it come away red, trying to focus on the water lapping in the sink when he rinses it and squeezes it out. 

“That’s it, baby girl. Close your eyes. Let me take care of it.” 

You do, and his touch keeps you grounded, keeps you from slipping back into that cage, or worse, back into David’s arms. For a moment, you’re not in an abandoned cabin, twenty years into a pandemic. For a moment, you’re home, letting the man you love take care of you without guns or threat; with only a washcloth and a tender hand. 

He’s careful against your bruise, and he doesn’t leave any spot unclean; your jaw, your neck, behind your ears. 

“Almost done,” he promises, but you wouldn’t mind if it took all night. 

He lets the water swirl down the drain when he’s done, and Ellie comes in soon after with another heated pan. 

“Thanks, kiddo,” you say, blinking the droplets from your eyelashes. 

“Is there anything else I can do to help?”

Joel gives her a warm smile and squeezes her shoulder. “We got it covered. Go get the couch ready. You know, since you’re sleeping there tonight.”

She groans in a very teenagerly way, trudging out of the bathroom as though she hasn’t spent many a night on forest floors. You can’t help but let out a small laugh, and Joel smirks at the sound.

“Pain in the ass," he comments with more adoration than annoyance.

“You love her and you know it.”

He only hums, grabbing a cup. “Lean your head back for me.”

You do, feeling renewed when the water trickles down your scalp and into the dirty bathtub. It reminds you of being a kid again, not yet old enough to wash your own hair. Somehow, the nostalgia leaves you emotional, and you’re trying not to cry again. 

“Hey, hey,” Joel says, putting the cup down. When you sob, he breathes, “I know. I know. C’mere.”

He pulls you into his chest without caring about how you dampen his shirt, and you clutch onto him as the grief, the terror, all rush through you. You can’t control it. It’s been pent up for too long, and this is your last straw. The thing that has pushed you over the rocky edge. 

Joel only whispers again and again: “I know. You’re okay, baby. I got you.”

***

Later, after you have stopped crying for long enough to let Joel shampoo your hair and the fire has died to embers you can’t risk rekindling, you crawl into your sleeping bed on top of the double mattress that Ellie so desperately wanted to sleep in. You smell like strawberries, and your skin is brand new, having scrubbed it top to bottom once Joel left the bathroom. You’re wearing one of the shirts he picked up at Bill and Frank’s over your own sweater, and it carries his musk, his warmth. 

Joel is looking out of the windows. After so much danger, you know it’s hard for him to settle. To believe that you might just be okay for one night.

“Joel?”

“Hmm?” The room is dark, but you see him glance your way, eyes shiny in the moonlight. 

“Come to bed. Please.”

His brows furrow, and he sits on the mattress slowly. “I can take the floor if you don’t want—”

“I do. I do want.”

“You don’t think I should keep watch?”

“I think we’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. Only things that’ll be bothering us here are the birds and the deer.” You regret bringing that up as soon as it leaves your mouth. You think of the deer you hunted, the thing that brought you to David, and stiffen. 

Joel must sense it, because he slouches in resignation and kicks off his boots. “Okay. Just for a little bit.”

You scooch over in your sleeping bag in the hopes he’ll understand what you need. 

He does. He slips in, holding an arm out so you can curl into him, so you do. His chest is warm, breaths steady, and if you can just stay like this for a while, maybe you’ll be okay again. 

“Sleep, darlin’,” he whispers into your hair. “I’ll be right here.”

“Do you think we’ll make it through this in the end?” you wonder aloud. “Ellie, the cure… if we make it out alive, if all this turns out to be worth it, what will we do afterwards? Where will it leave us? We can’t go back to Boston.”

“We don’t have to worry about that now.” He strokes your arm, and goosebumps rise on your skin. 

“I need something to hold onto, Joel,” you admit. “I need to imagine it won’t always be this bad.”

Moments pass, the silence a cold, unwelcome blanket across you. But then Joel folds it away. “When this is over, we’ll go back to Jackson. You, me, and Ellie. We’ll get us a real house, live a boring life with Tommy. Go watch movies and yell at Ellie for being a little shit.”

You snort at that, and her voice echoes from the front room: “I can hear you!” 

“Go to sleep!” Joel yells back. 

“I would if I wasn’t lying on an old uncomfortable couch with the fucking fleas!” 

You roll your eyes, rubbing his chest lovingly. “Just get in here and stop complaining!”

“Seriously?” he murmurs, though there is no surprise there; only something warm, amused. If you can find that after a day like today, you can find it anywhere, you think. 

Before you can reply, Ellie’s hopeful face appears in the shadows. She clutches her sleeping bag, a cheeky grin on her face. “Shift over, old man.”

Joel glares, but he pulls you closer so that Ellie can lie on the other side of you. You wrinkle your nose as she jumps onto the bed, kicking herself into her sleeping bag with little grace. He huffs and puffs, murmuring into your ear, “Regret it yet?”

“No,” you say, and you’re not just talking about the offer for Ellie to join you anymore. You pull her into you so that you’re sandwiched by the two people you love most in the world, and finally, with Joel’s warmth at your back and Ellie’s ponytail in your face, you feel safe. 

Joel’s fingers trail up and down your spine as Ellie settles, and they stay there as you slowly fall asleep. 

If this is what Joel’s boring life will be like, you’re ready for Jackson. You’re ready to go home with your family.

[1moreff-creator]

hey! do you have any theories on the escape plan teruko mentioned to veronika in ch 2 episode 7? teruko said she'll reveal it after the next murder, so maybe we'll find out next episode, but i'm curious if there are any clues that could suggest what it will be.

Hey! Well, as far as I can tell, there haven't been any explicit hints, beyond Teruko believing her plan to be a plan with high risk and high failure rate, and that she doesn't want to escape, just to end the killing game. She also says, right after mentioning her plan:

"I might as well wait for someone to commit murder. That's right. If a person decides to do something as terrible as taking a life, then they should bear the brunt of the consequences."

So it can be inferred her plan could be helped in some way if someone commits murder, and possibly having something to do with justice? It’s very little to go of, but I’ve come up with four possibilities (of vastly varying quality), out of which I imagine all are wrong lol. But here they are!

Spoilers up to CH2 EP15 and DR:THH. CW: Murder, execution, mentions of fire

Though I should probably mention that Teruko’s already stated some kind of plan to possibly escape, all the way in CH1 EP1. She brought up to Charles while investigating the elevator that the lack of stairs was a fire hazard, so if there was a fire, MonoTV would be forced to give them an emergency escape and they’d be able to leave.

I don’t think this is what she’s referring to when she speaks to Veronika, though, because by the time CH2 starts, Teruko doesn’t want to escape, rather, she just wants to end the killing game. So here are some options to achieve that!

-Mastermind Gambit: Teruko picks whichever character she believes to be the mastermind, and tries to kill them in front of the entire cast with her knife. That's somewhat related to the idea of “if someone decides to take a life, they should face the consequences,” right? The MM decided to put them in the killing game, they should face justice.

The idea is that, of course, if she's right and the mastermind dies, it's possible the game ends right then and there, and there's no trial.

But what if she’s wrong? This is why she has to do it in front of the rest, because if she chooses the wrong person, Teruko's luck will save both their lives. Think about it; if the victim dies, there’ll be a trial, and because Teruko killed them in front of everyone else, she’ll die. However, it’s been implied Teruko’s luck makes her effectively immortal. So to avoid Teruko’s execution, her luck would kick in and save the life of whoever got attacked, preventing the trial altogether. This is why it's worth waiting for a murder; it narrows down the suspects, and guarantees that everyone will be gathered to see her do it.

Still high risk, because she's relying on her luck to save her if she chooses the wrong person, which is particularly likely given... well, she's unlucky usually. It’s really hard to imagine her just... guessing the MM.

This is, to be clear, a very stupid idea. But would you believe me if I told you it’s not even as stupid as…?

-Complete Breakdown of the Luckster’s Execution: Basically, Teruko kills someone random and gets voted out in trial. However, her luck has to kick in, and Teruko hopes that whatever her luck does to save her from her execution has the side effect of completely shutting down the killing game one way or another. For example, if the only way for her to survive is that MonoTV irreparably malfunctions, that will happen due to her luck, and the killing game will end.

The reason she’d have to wait for someone to commit murder is that she doesn’t want to kill an innocent. I mean, that’d be pretty bad. But if a blackened is already about to get executed, why not kill them herself to try to pull this off? In this case, she’d try to kill Ace before he gets sent off.

To be absolutely clear, I don’t consider either of these first options likely in the slightest, especially given we don’t really know the extent to which Teruko is willing to literally push her luck, but oh well. Since I’m probably not going to get it right anyways, might as well throw everything I have out there :v

The next two are slightly better, but they’re still pretty wild.

-Blackened’s Blaze of Glory: Teruko has some kind of plan that happens to break one or several of the rules (eg: breaking cameras, tearing apart MonoTV to reprogram it, etc), so she doesn’t want to do it herself. Instead, once someone becomes a blackened, she’ll ask them to “bear the brunt of the consequences” by enacting whatever plan she has.

They’d probably get executed mid-attempt, but if they’re already about to get executed anyways after losing the trial, they might be willing to try one last hail mary for survival by trying to shut down the killing game. The plan is high risk for those who attempt it, and presumably has high failure rate, but that doesn’t really matter to someone on death’s door.

Ace boutta come in clutch?!?!

This one’s more plausible, in fact it may be the most plausible of these four options, and I can see it being a good send off for Ace’s character in particular given his motive was the desire to live (even if the dev’s comments seem to imply a regular execution, it’s possible the “blaze of glory” is followed by a regular execution so that’s a moot point). Unfortunately, I can’t 100% figure out what Teruko would have him try.

-Gamebreaking Gambit: Teruko does something that permanently prevents one or more of the game's rules to be fulfilled. For example, she may try to prevent the execution of the blackened (rule 3), or break the elevator so no new floor opens after the trial (rule 12).

The idea is that if MonoTV is unable to properly run the game because certain rules can't be followed, it will "break" and the game will be aborted. Obviously running interference like this is highly risky, since Teruko might get executed, and high failure rate, since there could be plenty of countermeasures against this idea from the mastermind's side, but it could work.

And the idea of preventing the blackened from being executed in particular could tie into that quote I put in the beginning. “Those who take a life should face consequences,” so if she prevents that, she’s causing things to go wrong in a way that could break the game.

This is a pretty insane plan, but something that makes it a bit more plausible in my mind is that it's been implied Teruko may remember some things about the THH killing game. And in that game, the sixth trial begins because Kirigiri managed to force the mastermind into breaking the rules of the killing game. If Teruko remembers that (unlikely as her memories seem pretty vague, but possible), she might try to replicate Kirigiri's plan. Seems really early to be pulling moves like that, but y'know.

Also allows Ace copers some hope I guess? Root for my girl, she might (try to) save your mans!

…

And that’s it! I'm out of ideas. We just have way too little context to make any more educated guesses, and there's very few plans I can come up with in general that Teruko might believe would end the killing game.

Thanks for the ask, this was fun to think about! Can’t wait to be proven completely wrong in about a week (if this really gets answered next episode)!

[runnning-outof-time]

Thanks for sending this lovely surprise in, Cia! 🥰 this gif tho…🥺🥺🥺 it immediately made me think of my mini-series, Girl Dad.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

Loud Sounds

Tommy Shelby x Reader (from the mini-series Girl Dad)

Warnings: ptsd fueled episode (brought on by sound)

Tommy and his daughter, Thea, are out on Arrow House’s grounds. Thea asked if her father could take her fishing for the day and Tommy, surprisingly, agreed. (Y/N) was rather pregnant with their second child, and Tommy knew she needed a rest.

With their rods in hand, Tommy still managed to get Thea’s favorite horse, Sammy, out of the stable and the two rode him to the pond that was on the property.

Things were going well. Tommy had shown Thea how to properly cast the line and the little three and a half year old was more than happy with reeling in lily pads and soggy sticks. Tommy was happy that he was able to spend some quality time with his daughter; he’d been guilty of thrusting himself fully into his business these past several weeks.

But the baby was coming soon, so Tommy decided to cut back on the hours in his office. He even found that the more time he spent with his family, the less he was trying to find ways to quiet his mind.

He was usually ok with loud sounds, bangs in particular, and horses getting startled, so having this happen truly scared him. Afterwards he reasoned that maybe it was because the two sounds happened together, but in the moment he shutdown.

There was either a car that misfired, or someone in the woods shot their weapon. The loud bang that came from it startled Sammy to the point where he was rearing back and whinnying loudly.

Hearing these sounds made Tommy hit the ground; his mind transported back to France. He slid down the slight slope of the pond, flattening his body as best he could against the mud as he covered his head with his arms; waiting for the imending gun and canon-fire. He squeezed his eyes shut, prepared for it once again.

But it didn’t come. Instead, the sweet voice of his daughter filled the silence that returned after the horse had calmed down. “What’s wrong, daddy?”

Her voice made Tommy open his eyes and look around. He was breathing heavily, adrenaline still coursing through him and he was still able to hear his heart beating in his ears, but that was the only sound. Removing only one of his arms from his head, he checked his surroundings. It quickly became apparent that he wasn’t in France. Then he saw Thea. She was looking at him with an expression that was a mix of confusion and worry.

“Daddy?” she asked again, her head tipping to the side as she made her confusion even more clear.

“Noth…nothing, sweetheart. Nothing’s wrong,” he told her, not trusting his voice enough to sound confident at first.

“Mumma’s not going to be happy that you got your shoes and pants wet,” she pointed out in a warning tone, making Tommy realized that the lower half of his legs were now submerged in the pond.

“I don’t think she will be,” Tommy agreed with his daughter, taking a few more steadying breaths. He hated that he’d reacted like that; especially in front of Thea…but it was thanks to Thea that he was able to snap out of it. She quickly made him realize that he was no longer in France.

“I can help you up, daddy,” she then said to him, extending her hand out as she crouched down next to where he was laying.

Tommy’s heart instantly swelled at her offer, wondering how he managed to be blessed with a child who had such a pure soul. “I’ll get up on my own, love. Thank you though,” he politely turned down her offer, pulling himself up, out of the water then so that he was standing again.

“All better?” Thea asked, looking up at him now.

“All better,” Tommy nodded, sending her a smile, making one form on the little girl’s face.

The creaking of the door made Tommy glance up from the paper he was reading over. He decided that he’d take some time alone in his office after the incident that happened at the pond. He brought the newspaper down to his lap when he saw that (Y/N) was in the doorway. He smiled at her, silently waving her over.

(Y/N) listened, moving into the room and shutting the door behind her. She waited until she was a step or two away from him to finally speak. “Thea told me about what happened at the pond today,” she said softly, testing the waters to see if he wanted to talk about it or not. Tommy was always hit or miss when it came topics such as these. She didn’t want to push him if he didn’t feel comfortable with it.

“She told me about my pants and shoes then, eh?” he asked, chuckling slightly he rubbed the back of his head. He looked down at his lap as his smile faded, thinking back to what had happened earlier. “It was just loud sounds, love. They happened at the same time and…” he trailed off, exhaling the rest of his breath as a sigh.

(Y/N) sent him a sympathetic smile, knowing how tough it was for him to express these types of things. The fact that he even began talking about it was a rarity. “I know,” she began, catching herself before continuing, “well I don’t actually know, but…”

“I know what you mean,” he cut her off, seeing that she was getting ready to talk herself into a circle. “I’m fine now…got over it pretty quickly once I realized Thea was there. She helped me,” he told her, sending her a closed-mouth smile.

“She didn’t think much of it,” she informed him, smiling back, “just thought it was funny that you got wet.”

Tommy chuckled at her statement, waving her over to sit with him. (Y/N) obliged, happily taking a seat on his lap. “Thanks for checking on me,” he mumbled against the skin of her neck before he pressed a kiss to it.

“Of course, love,” she smiled at him before she rested her head against his shoulder.

They sat in the comfortable silence for a few minutes before Tommy spoke again: “maybe I ought to go take Thea fishing again,” he mused, his hand brushing lazy circles against her swollen abdomen, “she really seemed to like it.”

“You should,” (Y/N) answered, nodding the best she could with her head rested against his shoulder, a smile forming on her lips.

“Maybe I’ll even take this one out there too,” he continued, referring to the child that would be born any day now.

“Even better,” (Y/N)’s smile grew as she lifted her head and pressed a kiss to his lips.

So I got a but carried away with this one 😅 I hope you enjoyed it!

Tagged: @mgcldydrms @the-anxious-youth @cloudofdisney @look-at-the-soul @elenavampire21 @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @notyour-valentine @shelbydelrey @december16-1991 @onlydeadcells @peakyswritings @just-a-blackhole @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @captivatedbycillianmurphy @yummycastiel @dark-academia-slut @tommystargirl @stevie75 @lyarr24 @signorellisantichrist @zablife @anotherblinder @midnightmagpiemama @cillmequick @rangerelik @dandelionprints @letal-y-poetica @itscheybaby @gypsy-girl-08 @insanitybyanothername @depxiety @raincoffeeandfandoms @dragons-are-my-favorite @acewritesfics @forgottenpeakywriter @cilliansangel @cljordan-imperium @areyenotfondofmelobster @little-diable

MASTERLIST

[thefandomenchantress]

Chapter 2 Episode 15 Spoilers below!

Since Ace being the culprit has brought about so much pain to ace lovers, including me, I figured I'd make a list of all the good things that him being the culprit brings to us. Even though Ace will (probably) be executed next episode, that doesn't mean that nothing good came out of this, right?

-Ace's backstory may be revealed much sooner than expected! Before we would've had to wait for chapter 3 or chapter 4 and so on, but since Ace will be gone soon, almost everything not revealed next episode will get told to us in a bonus episode! (I think every dead person gets one of those? Idk if that's officially confirmed). I doubt Teruko's gonna find, like, Ace's diary in chapter three detailing his life story, so if we're ever getting the Taylor Lore™, it'll be in a bonus episode! Plus, a bonus episode would come out a lot faster than the whole of chapter three, so more Ace content sooner no matter what happens in it! And there's always the chance he gets picked for an FTE, since dead people are on the list of options.

-Ace canonically has neat, fancy handwriting. Begone rumors of Ace having illegible, traditionally boy-ish handwriting, he actually writes like a 19th century scholar and I find this very funny. More evidence for my 'Ace likes reading and writing and wanted to become a romance author' crack theory, since he also reenforced his particularness about vocabulary in chapter 2 part 2. (Our only remaining question: Does Ace actually have terrible spelling ('responsibel'), or did he just think Eden would?)

-Ace is very good at being sneaky and often overhears things he shouldn't. I can't wait for this to be used as a plot device in numerous fics ("XANDER YOU'LL NEVER GUESS THE SHIT I JUST HEARD DAVID SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS ALONE").

-Ace will have to be included in the dead (formerly a) trio posts forevermore. Get ready for Xander-Min-Arei-Ace shenanigans.

-Now that the cast has been forced to acknowledge that being dumb and angry aren't Ace's only traits and that he's just as human as the rest of them, Ace is much less likely to be seen as just those two things by the average viewer. Ace's popularity, or at least the amount of dislike towards him, seems to have shifted since the last episode, and I'm happy more people are able to enjoy what his character has to offer now. He's a cool little guy. I've literally NEVER seen the Ace Markey tag this busy before.

-We got so many cool Ace CGs guys. SO MANY. Including one where he's hanging upside down on the swing set and looks weirdly cute for someone in the middle of a murder plan.

-Also new sprites! The DRDTdev gave Ace a redesign knowing full-well that it would only get a singular chapter of use, and I massively respect that. We already got some new sprites in part 2 of chapter 2 so far, and I'm guessing next episode he'll probably have at least one more breakdown sprite before he dies.

-For someone who no one in the cast liked, he's definitely going to leave an impact. He's finally made at least some of the cast realize what happens when they ignore the issues right in front of them. Ace shouts about how everyone hates him and sees him as an insufferable idiot? Eh, probably nothing, we don't have to worry about that. Sure, multiple people told him he's gonna die next in here, and he almost got murdered, but that won't amount to anything. What's he gonna do, murder someone--WAIT SHIT Ace step away from the Arei I repeat step away from the Arei-- (plus Teruko parallels). I'll probably go more in-depth about this sort of thing in a different post.

-WE NEVER GOT TO SEE WHAT'S UNDER HIS GLOVES. Kyoko and Mukuro both had hand-related secrets that connected them to the plot later on, does that mean Ace will have some sort of relevance to the mastermind or overall lore later on? Like a Mai tattoo situation? (Or maybe it's another thing that may be alluded to or discussed in the bonus episode)(Or left to interpretation but I hope not because I have so many theories).

If you have any more suggestions for other good Ace-related things the culprit reveal brought us, let me know and I can add them to the list! We need as many good things as we can think of right now...

[operationslipperypuppet]

a small, slightly strange, slightly devastating hardwon and moonshine treat for @stone-stars as part of @naddpodgifting.

Transcript:

This is a series of clips edited together, skipping some moments in certain episodes. Skips ahead will be marked with line breaks. The episodes used, in order, are C1E99, C1E100, C1E57, C1E99, C1E92, C3E41, C3E41, and C1E99. Used throughout are lines from "If We Were Vampires" by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Those lyrics are in bold.

If we were vampires and death was a joke Moonshine (Emily): How long do half-elves live? We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke Hardwon (Jake): And I wanna keep on living in that world. I wanna be a part of the Crick. I, I just wanna live next door to, to Ol' Cobb, I wanna learn from Maw Maw. [Emily gasps] Hardwon: And, hell, I wanna keep hanging out with you, so... Moonshine [overlapping]: It - Hardwon: If you'll find me a stump. -- Moonshine: Hardwon, I promise, you are gonna love our lazy afternoons and our rowdy evenings. [Caldwell laughs] Hardwon: I truly can't wait. Moonshine (/Emily): I give him a big hug. Hardwon (/Jake) [slightly choked up]: I hug her back. Laugh at all the lovers and their plans Jake (/Hardwon): I'm going to kiss Moonshine. [Murph gasps] -- Murph: Um - Hardwon: You're beautiful, is all I'm trying to say. [Emily laughs] -- Queen Ezra (Murph): Oh, you think you can save her. Hardwon: I think she can save herself. I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand Hardwon: It doesn't matter how I feel about Moonshine, cause she's gonna do whatever the hell she wants anyway, and that's, that's one of the reasons why I fuckin' worship her. Maybe time running out is a gift Hardwon: Wait a second, no, hit me. Murph [overlapping at the beginning]: [points at] Moonshine, and is going to cast Power Word Kill -- Jake (/Hardwon): I just run over to Moonshine with the, with the book, and even if it doesn't do anything I'd at least like to kneel down there and, uh, sob quietly. [Caldwell laughs] Hardwon: You like these, right? [Caldwell laughs louder] Hardwon: Read this book. Read, read that. And wake up. -- Murph: Uh, you see her fungal form, uhhh, falls apart around her - Hardwon [overlapping for the rest of the statement]: No no no no no no Murph: - like a dead flower losing its petals Hardwon: no no, no no no. -- Hardwon: Bring her back, and I'll come. Bring her back. I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift Moonshine [over static]: So, I think, if, I don't know where you went to, but if, if you can come back? Things, things are bad. I, I think we've only got maybe another week. Oh, I, oh, I - I gotta go. Hardwon, please! And give you every second I can find Hardwon: Moonshine, I'm - I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left, but that's - that's not important. I'm - I hear you. I'm coming, girl. -- Moonshine [over static]: Hardwon, it's damn good to hear your voice. And it'll be even better to see your face. Get here. And hope it isn't me who's left behind. Moonshine: I guess, if I'm being honest, I just don't know what it's gonna be like to know Bahumia without Hardwon Surefoot. [voice breaking] And there's a part of me that doesn't wanna find out what that feels like.

[theshipminer]

Decided to rewrite Hazbin Hotel because I was bored

You can consider this a fix, or whatever. I don't really care. I just thought that the show had fantastic ideas, meh execution. It's whatever. Anyways, shoutouts and apologies to my sister, @aimasup, for bouncing ideas with me, and for being the one who had to listen to me ramble on about all of this. If anyone wants to ask me questions or anything, I'll be happy to answer. Anyways, endless rambling for what basically is fanfiction under the read more:

Premise is still the same: Hotel in Hell re-Habilitates Horrible Has-beens

Probably at least three seasons

Season 1: Episode 1: Probably reuse the pilot for the first episode, albeit with their updated designs and other miscellaneous improvements.

This season establishes Hell, the Hotel, and other wacky shenanigans that the hotel goes through to rehabilitate sinners

Hitler probably shows up at least more than once

The Overlords of Hell are the main antagonists

There’s also the looming deadline of the yearly purge, so that’s fun

Season 1 finale: The Hotel staff finally go to heaven! Charlie’s ideas are finally being recognized! But, oh no! The head of the angels, Adam is a dick!

It gets worse! They couldn’t wait an entire year, so the next purge is in three months! What is everyone to do?!

In the end, everyone except Charlie has a great time. Alastor is conveniently absent for the entire episode.

Season 2: business as usual? Everyone is extra excited, except Charlie. Perhaps the time has come to ask daddy for help? More than usual?

Oh, yeah. Lucifer is probably gonna be one of the patrons in this season, I guess. Maybe we also discover what happened to Lilith in this season, but then again, it will probably depend on what the show does with her.

“I miss my wife, Tails. I miss her a lot.”

Somewhere, the truth finally gets out. Charlie has been keeping it in all this time because she hopes that maybe talking to Lucifer will solve this whole dilemma and Adam, massive dick that he is, won’t attack a former angel!

It doesn’t work.

Season 2 mid-season two-parter: the purge happens early. A massive battle between Hell and Adam’s forces happens. Maybe the hotel staff and the Overlords team up for this one, with some “persuasion” from Alastor?

Naturally, Adam is defeated, and Charlie wants to redeem him as well. The Overlords disagree, and take him prisoner.

While in captivity, Adam lets slip something interesting: God is nowhere to be seen. And he hasn’t been for a very long time now. Naturally, the overlords are interested, but of course they won’t want to let an angel leave alive, now wouldn’t they? The audience doesn’t learn this until the end of the season, when Alastor himself learns this vital piece of information. And only when he spills it to the main cast.

RIP Adam, you won’t be missed.

The rest of the season is back to business…? Nope! After hearing that God is missing, the Overlords realise that Heaven is basically prime for the taking. So they’re planning a full-blown war.

To help in this war, they plan to unseal the Root of All Evil, who shall henceforth be referred to as ‘Roo’.

Roo is considered the most powerful of all demons, even more than Lucifer. The angels sealed her away a long time ago, but the seal has started to weaken.

Season 2 two-parter finale: After learning about the vital piece of information, Alastor tells everyone that the Overlords are planning to go to war with Heaven, and also about Roo. He doesn’t tell them about God, though. Where would be the fun in that?

Roo has been unsealed and naturally, the Overlords can’t control her. Who could have seen this coming?

Charlie , naturally, doesn’t like war. The battle against Adam could be classified as self-defense, but she never wanted it to escalate to this. So she decides to try and kill two birds with one stone: defeat Roo to hopefully find a way to prevent war, and also to hopefully destroy evil at its source and have everyone stop being evil? Charlie really doesn’t want to have to kill someone. I mean, Adam was left alive, and he’s probably doing well for himself, right? (Does she know?)

A grueling battle is held, and against all odds, Roo is defeated. the Overlords no longer have a weapon against heaven, all should be well, right? All that’s left to do is find some common ground with Roo, find out why she’s so evil, and hopefully stop evil from happening.

Yeah, nah. Roo gives Charlie a HUGE “The Reason You Suck” speech about her naivety, and pretty much forces Charlie to kill her with her own hands. Sucks.

Oh, yeah, and Alastor finally lets spill that God is missing. Great job, Al. You fucking asshole.

Season 3 Episode 1: begins with Charlie pretty much depressed after the previous season’s events. Everyone tries to cheer her up. It’s all comedic, until the final part where they have a heart-to-heart and remind Charlie of all the things she’s accomplished with them, even if they haven’t gone to heaven yet.

The end of the episode has Charlie realize that, with God gone, that means that the yearly purges probably didn’t happen under God’s watch, meaning that if they bring God back, things will finally be right again!

It’s finally time to take action, and everyone is gonna go to Heaven! How? I dunno, how do the Exorcist Angels come down to Hell? I dunno, some kind of elevator that no one was brave enough to hijack?

The rest of the season takes place in Heaven. Hotel shenanigans happen again, but in heaven, this time!

Charlie meets the other archangels, and while they’re still dicks, at least they’re less so than Adam. Unlike Adam, maybe they’re more like Alastor in terms of demeanor: they don’t particularly care what kind of plot Hell’s up to, but they’d certainly be interested in how these sinners will manage to come up into Heaven.

Should they meet Jesus in Heaven? A parallel to Charlie in Heaven, he wholeheartedly supports Charlie’s endeavors and basically becomes her first friend in Heaven?

The overarching mystery is: where is God? What happened to Him? Why does Archangel Michael take so long to use the bathroom?

Eventually, like, near the end of the season, we finally meet God.

Wouldn’t it be funny if, after three whole seasons of extravagantly designed characters, demons, angels, sins and virtues alike, we finally meet the Big G Himself and He’s just… a dude in a robe and a beard? How funny would that be?

Anyways, we finally get a reason for God’s very, very long absence: after thousands of years of humanity’s evil, and His many failed attempts to purge evil from the world, His last attempt finally broke Him, and He spent the rest of time in a depressive slump, pretty much never ever leaving His room. He’s, ironically enough, lost faith in humanity.

The final ‘patron’ of the ‘hotel’ is God Himself. Charlie and the others have to convince Him that humanity is worth believing in, and to give them another chance. Of course, they succeed.

The finale could be that God has officially recognized the Hazbin Hotel as an official way for sinners to redeem themselves: a “very definitely final chance to enter Heaven”. If sinners can’t redeem themselves even in death, then they never will. Charlie’s friends are the first sinners to finally ascend to Heaven, but they stay behind in Hell to help run the hotel.

[breelandwalker]

How can you motivate yourself to practice? I'm so busy with work and other daily life things that I often don't have time, energy or motivation to practice, or I just forget. Time goes so fast these days and suddenly I've missed the last two sabbaths and full moon, then I get bad conscience and feel like I'm a "bad" or "failed" witch. (I struggle a lot with self deprecation in general with my mental health) Do you have any tips on how I can motivate myself to practice more?

Oof, I hear you. We all have the best of intentions when it comes to keeping up with our practice and making progress on our goals and projects, but damnit, Real Life just keeps on getting in the way.

Ideally, we'd all be able to keep perfect track of the occasions we wish to celebrate and the cycles of the moon AND have time and energy to devote to our practices on top of taking care of silly things like jobs and families and social lives and household management. Ideally, we'd be well-read, well-rested, well-organized, and perfectly in command of our faculties.

It's nice to dream, isn't it?

In reality, we're all doing the best we can and despite our best efforts, we miss holidays and moon dates and gatherings and go weeks or months without having time to sit down and actively work on our craft. And that is OKAY. None of it means we're bad people or failed witches. It just means we're human beings with human lives and human limitations. We can only do so much with 24 hours in a day.

The nice thing is that the craft meets us where we are, and if that means waiting a while, it's got a loooong shelf life. Besides that, practicing witchcraft isn't JUST performing rituals and casting spells and lighting up the altar. It's research and rest and reflection too.

In my practice, I've found that doing small things as part of my daily routine and larger things when I have time really helps. For instance, stirring a blessing into my morning drink, or setting my wards when I lock the front door, or wearing a charmed piece of jewelry. I do my best to keep track of the moons using reminders and a planner so I can put my jars out, but I forget sometimes. It's annoying, but there's always another one coming. And I find ways to make things I'm already doing magical as well, like cleansing my home when I clean or take out the garbage or reconnecting with the land I live on while doing yard work.

And when all else fails, I take a break and go back to the things that inspire me. I work on crafts. I journal. I try something new. I listen to music and watch movies and maybe re-read some things, and I give myself a little grace. (I've run myself into a full burnout before by ignoring my limits before. I don't recommend it.) Then when I have the time and energy, I get back to work.

Here are some posts that might help:

My Intuitive Spark Feels Low - How Do I Get It Back?

I’m In A Slump - How Do I Get Out Of It?

I’ve Reached A Stopping Point - What Do I Do Next?

How Do I Know When I’m Ready For The Next Step In My Practice?

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Witchy Inspo Journal

Witchcraft Exercise - Music To Witch By

I also discussed the topic on two episodes of my podcast:

Hex Positive, Ep. 027 - When Inspo Takes A Holiday (March 2022)

Hex Positive, Ep. 033 - Touch Grass (April 2023)

Hope this helps! 😊

[horangboosadan]

ROCK WITH YOU [8/10]

episode eight: so let me listen to all your emotions

pairing: idol!lee chan x gender neutral!actor!reader

genre: established relationship, fluff, angst, best friend!jun, actor au, smau, on screen lovers off screen besties, intentional lowercase

synopsis: after the release of your most recent drama, the world decides that you and your co-star/best friend would be the perfect couple. the influx of positive reactions are great for your career, his career, and the drama. however, it tears at you to lie to your fans and appear dishonest towards your boyfriend. being a k-pop idol, revealing your relationship can come with unforeseen consequences. how do you tackle the onslaught of people who want the inside scoop of you and your co-star, and your boyfriend in denial about his jealousy without compromising either relationship?

wc: 2.1k

masterlist

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the sound of the code being punched and the melody that sings when it's correct jolts you out of your half-sleep state. the creak of the door opening and the click of it closing has you shake your head. the soft footsteps making their way in your direction has your brain hurt as your mind filters through a million thoughts that have so far kept you from sleeping since you came home.

maybe it’s for the better―you get a chance for your circadian rhythm to adapt back to where it’s supposed to be.

“i brought food,” says chan as he enters the living room. he smiles; a huge grin that seems to lighten every load on your shoulders and clear your mind of whatever fears were coursing through it. the grin stays all the way over to the couch, only disappearing as he leans down to press a kiss to your lips. “i missed you.”

“i missed you, too.” you return his smile. “and i love you for bringing food because i haven’t really eaten anything all day.”

he sets the bag of food on the coffee table and seats himself next to you on the couch. “thought so. i wasn’t sure you’d even be awake.”

“somehow, i was too exhausted to even sleep,” you say. you’re half joking, but you’re aware of the slight nervousness in your voice. chan usually picks up on it, but you’re not sure if he’ll chalk it up to exhaustion or realize that there is something on your mind keeping you from resting.

“then we eat and go to sleep. we both need it.” he kisses you, and starts to take the food out of the bag.

your heart hammers in its cage. there’s a nagging feeling at the back of your mind telling you there isn’t anything to worry about, that you’ve been seeing things in his messages because you want to, because you know you won’t stand up for your own discomfort when it comes to the whole leaning into a romantic interest in jun. however, the moment chan says anything, you’ll do something. maybe seungkwan and vernon were wrong.

yet, there’s that pit in your stomach that keeps telling you that chan isn’t his normal self. his unusual long time in answering texts, his lack of trying to find time to actually talk after your first week away, his short answers, and his sudden lack of emojis whenever he said ‘i love you’ or ‘i miss you’. a part of you wants to tell yourself your just reading into it, that your exhaustion is taking over, but your gut says differently.

you’ve always trusted your gut.

“tell me about your trip,” says chan as he hands you a pair of chopsticks, already broken apart and ready to use.

you shake your head. “hmm, it was nice. a lot of bad weather, but that was the reason we shot there in the first place, apparently. the cast is nice, the crew was nice, and everything went very smoothly, but mostly i couldn’t enjoy myself due to a lack of sleep and breaks. i had a few on set, but my role is big enough that i didn’t have as much time to sit down as i wanted to.” you stop talking by starting to eat, figuring it can be a good excuse to not say anything else.

chan doesn’t say anything, but he’s looking intently at you. his gaze makes you feel loved, but it also feels piercing, as if he can see right through you. see your worries. see your exhaustion. “eat up, okay? you look like you need a good nights sleep.”

“thanks for the compliment," you say and huff jokingly.

“i didn’t mean it like that!” he says quickly. he takes your free hand with his and uses his thumb to caress the back of your hand. “you always look good, okay?”

you pout and look down. you both know it’s an act, but you like doing it. you like having him dote on you, which is exactly what he proceeds to do as he cups your face with both hands and lifts your head so you look at him. “you’re the most gorgeous, beautifulest, prettiest, handsomest, whatever adjective you want, person in the world.” with each adjective, he presses a kiss to your lips, and he continues after until you stop pouting and your lips draw into a smile.

“and even more so when you smile,” he adds and kisses you again.

it helps. it helps you regain energy, and it helps some of those worries slip away. whatever this jealousy thing is―if vernon is correct―you know that you’re not going to lose chan because of it.

all the tension in your veins seeps out. the thought of how much chan loves you, of how much you love him, fills them with warmth instead. a soft, cuddly warmth that doubles when chan puts an arm around you and drags you into his side.

you eat like that for a while, snuggled up together. chan feeds you bites of food, and you’re pretty sure you’re gonna fall asleep. however, as the food runs out, your worries haven’t disappeared enough for you to let go of them.

“i’ll clean up, okay? just get ready for bed and i’ll see you in there.” chan lets go of you. the warmth of his arm disappears and he gets up to start gathering the trash.

he doesn’t get far before you grab his hand and pull him back down onto the couch. “not yet,” you say.

chan laughs and pulls you in for a hug. “you missed me that much?”

you lightly punch at him, not letting go of the hug as you nod. maybe you are holding him back for another reason, but you did really miss him that much. so much you don’t want to let go of him, so much that you couldn’t be happier with the knowledge that you have all of tomorrow to spend together.

“yeah, i did,” you say as you pull out of the hug, “but there is something else.”

chan cocks his head. “something’s wrong?”

you grimace and shrug. “i don’t know.” the words won’t come. you don’t want to startle him, to scare him, to have him withdraw because he doesn’t want to discuss it. what if seungkwan’s right and he feels stupid for his feelings and therefore won’t talk about them? but you’ve been together for two years already, you know how to be honest with each other.

“okay, so, i just need to know how you feel about this whole dating rumor between me and jun,” you say. “i know you said you’re fine, but i want you to be completely honest.”

“i’m fine.” chan smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “i mean it. it’s fine. i know that it’s not true, and whatever the world may think, i know the truth.”

you want to believe him. you want to just say, ‘okay, let’s go to bed’, but you know he’s not telling the truth. “you don’t have to be fine with it.” you swallow, trying to keep your voice level, clear, and without the shake to it you can hear so well. you’re an actor, you should be able to do this, but somehow, without a camera, you never manage to. “i mean it. you don’t have to be fine with it. i wouldn’t be. i would hate seeing you with someone else. i would hate it even more if everyone wanted you to be with someone else. babe, i get jealous of you flirting with carats on lives and fancalls.”

the silence is loud. chan avoids your gaze, looking instead at his hands as he fiddles with the strings of his hoodie. you take his hand, intertwining your fingers and squeezing. “it’s okay.”

his voice is barely above a whisper when he speaks. “it’s stupid,” he says, and your heart breaks.

“it’s not stupid.” you use your other hand to lift his head up to look at you. “i am telling you, whatever you’re feeling, it is not stupid.”

“i don’t like it. i don’t like feeling this way, i don’t like seeing everyone talk about you, i don’t like all the comments about the two of you. they even asked on my live, about you and jun. i think i did well not to make it obvious, but i hated it. but it’s so stupid to feel this way when i know you and jun, and i know you’d never think of each other that way.” he sniffles. a tear runs down his cheek. you wipe it away. “seeing people talk about you as if you’re with someone else makes me feel like i don’t matter.”

you pull him close in a tight hug. he buries his head in the crook of your neck. “baby, i’m sorry,” you say. his arms tightens around you, holding you as close as possible. you don’t pull away, waiting for him to decide when he doesn’t need a hug anymore.

it lasts for what feels like forever and the blink of an eye at the same time. a mixture of feelings spread out through your body. you can’t tell what it is, can’t tell how you’re feeling as chan pulls out of your hug. somehow, you know what you want to do next;

make sure all these rumors and theories and whatever they are stop.

“i love you, you know that, right?” you ask. you lean your forehead against his.

“i know. i love you, too.” he kisses you. you kiss back, keeping him close before he pulls away.

it’s still a short kiss, but it has you remember all the things you love about him. the way he smiles, the way he talks, the way he dances, the way he laughs. all the things that had you fall for him in the first place, the reason why it hurts you so much to see him hurting.

when you pull away, you only have one thought on your mind.

“do you wanna tell the world?”

it’s a big question. going public about your relationship could jeopardize your careers. it will have more consequences for his as an idol than yours as an actor, and it would put you both in the limelight for something other than what you want to be there for. you’ve worked hard to keep your relationship private, to keep your private life out of the public eye. but that one kiss and this whole conversation made you realize that you love chan enough to risk it.

chan pulls away. he takes your hand in his and intertwines your fingers. “i want everyone to know how much i love you,” he says. “but are you sure?”

you shrug. “i don’t know what might happen if we do, but you’re hurting so much because of all this talk about me and jun that i don’t know how else to battle it. there’s still so much of it that im not sure if it will blow over when the drama ends.” you take a deep breath and smile. “and i love you so much that i’m willing to risk whatever consequences may come.”

“really?” there’s something hopeful in his voice, something ready to agree. “you’re absolutely sure?”

“yes. i love you and i want the whole world to know.” you kiss him. “it’s not like we’d be announcing it right this second, and we can still think about it, but maybe that’s the next step.”

chan grins. “i love you, too.” he presses a kiss to the back of your hand, fingers still entwined. “does this mean i can openly flirt with you at all times?”

“i guess.” you laugh. “but the deal is you stop overusing that smirk emoji.”

“i love that emoji. it gets the point across.”

“well, i don’t need it to know what you’re trying to say, though. i know exactly what’s on your mind.” you smile, a giddy feeling now coursing through your veins. “also, you have to stop saying sleep whenever you don’t actually mean to sleep.”

chan fakes a shocked look. “what? you want me to say sex every time? even in front of other people?”

you hit him lightly. “i don’t want you to talk about it in front of other people at all,” you say and start to get up from the couch. “c’mon. let’s clean up, go to bed, and maybe i’ll have enough energy to sleep tomorrow.”

chan pulls you back down by your hands still entwined. “we can always sleep now,” he says, and kisses the corner of your mouth.

there is no one in the entire world you love more then lee chan, and he continues to make you love him more every single day. even with the nervous tension that comes with revealing your relationship to the public, the prospect of your future together looks brighter than ever.

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boo talks

a written chapter for a change. they finally talked! i really like this chapter but my god is the change between doing texting and actually writing it out hard at times (i think i rewrote this like three times before i was happy with it, and im still not actually sure im happy with it...) anyways, im currently on christmas break from uni (finally done with exams and at least one went well and we'll see), which may mean more one shots and hopefully a christmas themed one? idk, but i hope...

[helluva-shit-show]

I swear I don't hate the show, I don't even hate any of the ladies above, not even Stella, it's just insanely unfair how the women get treated in Helluva.

And no, I don't need the creators of any given media to hold my hand and walk me through every tiny choice made by every character in said media.

Of course I can infer that Stella grew up in the same pre-determined mold Stolas was forced into. Of course I can infer that she learned tantrum behavior and violence probably got her what she wanted so her royal parents didn't have to hear it.

I can infer that Barbie self harms bc a tiny thin scar doesn't form a perfect circle around your forearm by accident, and an "X" doesn't perfectly cross out a tattoo that probably causes you great trauma to look at every day, on accident. Her tail scars are deeply concerning and saddening to think about, bc again, why do they PERFECTLY match her twin brother's natural markings? I can infer that his actions, intentional or not, deeply traumatized her, and her response was to remove a piece of herself that reminded her of him. It's dark, it's mature, it's compelling and it makes sense. The issue is, it will probably never be touched on.

I adore Millie, I adored her before season two was even announced. To the contrary, I actually don't care if she ever gets a deep deep dive at her backstory. There have been PLENTY of male characters across all kinds of media that are simply psychotic little murder gremlins, and no one ever bats an eye at it. I adore her as the murder gremlin queen she is. But as she's main cast, it's incredibly unfair by comparison how she gets utilized and how she doesn't. One minute she can take down a 60 meter tall fish monster single handedly, the next minute, because the plot wants this to be about the bois, a single hit breaks her arm to the point that BONE IS PIERCING THROUGH HER SKIN, and she just happens to get thrown directly into the world's MOST CONVENIENTLY PLACED AND ARMED bear-trap ever. It doesn't snag her face, her hair, or her hand or arm or torso or back, she falls just perfectly that her leg is just perfectly in its jaws. No arteries got caught? There's not an excess of blood, she's by the show's own dialogue, "fine." But she's benched for the rest of the episode.

And maybe it wouldn't be so bad from the critical eye if the excuse given for it wasn't SO hollow. "Helluva is more male focused and Hazbin is more female focused." Ma'am. Who do you think you're fooling out here. Angel Dust and Alastor built the HH fandom. Do you expect me to believe Mimzy or Niffty are going to be treated any better than the Helluva gals? Mimzy is literally already on the wiki as a "minor character".

It's truly ok to focus your story on males. There is literally a whole genre of anime focused on mostly male stories. But if someone, or a lot of someones, feel your female cast is lacking in substance, I find it insulting to dismiss them and say they're misreading the media and nitpicking. They care about the show, YOUR show, they care about YOUR characters, if you can remember back when you were a smaller creator HERE on tumblr, ppl love when you ask them about their OCs. And you don't have to spit out a quick bs backstory to your character if you haven't given it much thought, that's not what anyone is asking for. (Cough, Unhappy Campers, COUGH).

Idk how to wrap this critique up, so I'm just gonna say, Moxxie's mom is too badass to be Mrs. Knofirstname Knolastname. 🤡

[ultrone]

Is there any way you can write something for Jackie? Maybe something where she just gets comforted through everything she was dealing with out there and finds a safe space with the reader. I dont know if that’s enough to go off but i trust you’ll do amazing, as long as its Jackie content lol I am a Jackie Taylor apologist

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧 𖥔 𝖻𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖾𝖽𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇

cw. S1E10 spoilers (this fic is based on that episode), mentions of fighting, just fluff

wc. 3.4k approx

n/a. tysm for your request, i really hope u like it <33 u didn’t specify if u wanted it to be platonic or romantic, so i did romantic by default, however, i added the romantic stuff kinda at the end of it so that u can skip it if u want to :)

Ever since the plane crash, the weather had been the same, with the sun always shining and the breeze feeling warm—until tonight. The air was calm, but it carried a biting cold that made you shiver. As you breathed out, a faint cloud of white vapour appeared, a sign of the freezing temperatures. It wasn't very noticeable, but it was there, reminding you of the intense chill that surrounded you on this night.

It had been around two hours since Shauna and Jackie had their big fight. All of you were aware that they had been having some issues for a couple of weeks now, but honestly, none of you paid much attention to it. Sure, there was some tension, but nothing too dramatic. You all just let it slide, thinking that maybe it had to do with Jackie struggling to adjust to the new home, unlike the rest of the team who adapted more quickly and lent a hand in every possible way. Shauna and Jackie had been your best friends for a few years now, ever since you met them during soccer practice. Since then, the three of you became inseparable, hanging out almost every day after practice and having sleepovers at Jackie's house every weekend. Deep down, you always sensed a hint of jealousy from Shauna towards Jackie, even though she never explicitly said it. But you never thought Shauna would go as far as sleeping with Jeff… and now everything made sense. You cared a lot about Shauna, she had been there for you in many ways, especially when you needed help getting over your crush on Jackie when she started dating Jeff—or at least she helped you stop thinking about her as much. But this time, Shauna had crossed a line, and you found yourself in a difficult situation because both of them held equal importance in your life.

You were lying in your cozy sleeping bag, pulling the blanket up to your nose in an attempt to ward off the cold. Only your eyes were visible, peering out from the warmth. Your gaze was fixed on Shauna, who was positioned near the window, her attention directed towards Jackie. She was situated outside, seated next to a small bonfire she had managed to ignite, casting a warm glow in the darkness.

"Just go talk to her," Tai urged, noticing the heartache etched on Shauna's face.

Shauna shook her head in silent refusal, her gaze lingering on Jackie through the window for a few more seconds before finally making her way back to her sleeping bag, preparing to settle down for the night.

She was incredibly stubborn, but you knew that beneath that facade, all she wanted to do was to rush outside, hug Jackie tightly, and say how sorry she was. But knowing her, you knew that it would take her a while to gather the courage to apologize. Tonight, at least, she had decided against it.

The night grew colder with each passing moment, and even from the comfort of your snug blankets indoors, you could feel the penetrating chill seeping into your bones. The thought of how freezing it must be for Jackie outside weighed on your mind, compelling you to go out and convince her to come inside. Initially, when the fight had just erupted, you refrained from going after her. You knew Jackie was the type of person who appreciated someone chasing after her and urging her to come inside, but you also knew that she was very upset—I mean, she practically called out everyone in the room for being lunatics (which, honestly, was completely true)—and you believed it was best to give her some space.

Before setting off, you locked eyes with Shauna. It had been a while since you last spoke to her, ever since the heated argument had unfolded earlier that afternoon. You conveyed a mixture of disappointment and understanding through your gaze. And with that unspoken communication, you began your descent down the stairs, taking each step slowly and cautiously, ensuring not to disturb any of the girls asleep downstairs.

You gingerly turned the creaky doorknob, easing the door open and stepping out into the frigid night. As you closed the door behind you, the stark difference in temperature hit you. It was considerably colder outside, and you couldn't fathom how Jackie had managed to endure the cold for so long. There she was, right in front of you, sitting huddled with her legs pulled close to her body. She wore her yellowjackets jacket and had wrapped herself in a blue blanket, shielding her from the biting chill. Facing the crackling bonfire, she trembled visibly, and you could even see the wisps of white vapour escaping her mouth, despite standing a few feet away behind her.

With each step you took, the dried leaves crackled under your shoes, breaking the silence of the night. The sound startled Jackie, jolting her out of her thoughts. She turned her gaze towards you, relief washing over her face as she recognized your familiar presence standing beside her. She then returned her gaze back to the crackling bonfire, silent and without uttering a single word to you.

"Jackie," you called out softly, your voice tinged with concern. "It's really freezing out here. You should come inside."

As you made the suggestion, Jackie continued to ignore you, her attention fixated unwaveringly on the flickering bonfire. Sensing her resistance, you added softly, "Please-" but before you could finish your plea, she interrupted you with a hurt tone.

"Did you know?" she questioned, her voice filled with pain and vulnerability.

You immediately shook your head, denying any knowledge of the situation. Determined to bridge the gap between you, you slowly approached her, taking a seat beside her.

Her eyes met yours, searching for understanding. "I love Shauna… but I love you too," you confessed softly. "And you know I would never hide something like that from you."

She let out a heavy sigh, her voice laden with sorrow. "I know you wouldn't. I'm sorry..." Her voice trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes. "I just can't believe she did that to me. She was my best friend."

You were at a loss for words, unsure of how to comfort her. The truth was, you were just as shaken as she was. Witnessing her in such anguish tore at your heart, and the knowledge that she was facing this pain all alone shattered you. Slowly, you reached out and gently caressed her back, observing tears streaming down her cheeks. As she gradually relaxed under your touch, you instinctively wrapped your arm around her, drawing her close. She found solace in your embrace, resting her head against your shoulder.

"Shit, Jackie, you're freezing," you exclaimed, surprise and concern evident in your voice. Holding her tighter within your arms, you tried to provide whatever warmth and comfort you could.

Racking your brain for something that might bring her comfort, a spark of inspiration lit up in your mind. Leaning in closer, you whispered gently, adjusting your position so she could meet your gaze. "Hey," you murmured, using your thumb to delicately wipe away some of her tears. "Remember that walkman you were trynna fix the other day?" you asked, a glimmer of hope in your voice. She nodded, sniffling and rubbing her runny nose in response.

Reaching into your pocket, you retrieved the carefully repaired walkman. "It was meant to be a surprise," you revealed, a touch of excitement in your voice. "I spent the entire morning fixing it. And guess what? It works now," you announced proudly, a wide smile spreading across your face. The sight of her teary eyes sparkling with happiness only made your smile grow even more.

With careful hands, she took hold of the walkman and pressed the power button. To her pleasant surprise, it sprang to life, functioning perfectly. "Oh my god, thank goodness," she uttered, a genuine smile gracing her lips. It was a smile that stirred something inside you, causing a gentle flutter in your stomach. Untangling the earphones from around the walkman, she placed one earphone in her ear and extended the other one toward you, offering you to take it.

"Thank goodness? You should be thanking me," you playfully teased as you inserted the earphone into your own ear, trying to bring a smile to her face. She chuckled, nudging you with her elbow and softly muttering 'shut up' as she pressed the play button.

📻 𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 cry, cry by mazzy star

With the music enveloping both of you, a sense of solace settled in, the proximity of your bodies providing warmth amidst the surrounding coldness.

Breaking the silence, Jackie's voice carried a tinge of disappointment as she voiced her concern. "Do you think we're ever getting rescued?" she questioned, her hope waning. "I'm starting to lose hope. We've been here for months."

Pausing for a moment, you contemplated her words before responding honestly. "I'd like to believe that we will," you began, your voice tinged with a hint of melancholy. "But if I'm being completely honest, I'm losing hope too."

"I can't do this anymore, y/n," Jackie admitted, her voice cracking with raw emotion. She curled up, pulling her legs close to her body as if seeking comfort. "Back before we ended up here, everything felt good. I mean, I knew I wasn't the star player on the team, I'm not delusional. But being the captain and being able to uplift everyone, it made me feel special, you know? Like I could be relied upon, like I could be a leader," she confessed, her voice quivering with vulnerability. "But here... I just feel so... useless. I feel like I'm a burden," she cried, tears streaming down her face. "It seems like everyone else adapted so quickly. Nat and Travis go out hunting, Misty always knows what to do when someone gets hurt, and for god's sake, even Shauna became some sort of expert butcher. Everyone's doing something, and I just feel like I'm the only one who doesn't want to accept this reality." Her words hung in the air, the weight of her insecurities palpable.

As she continued to pour out her frustrations, you listened attentively, acknowledging the weight of her words. "And to make everything worse, now I've lost one of the most important people in my life," she lamented, her thoughts consumed by Shauna's betrayal. With a disbelieving chuckle, she added, "But you know what the worst part is? It's funny, I used to pretend I didn't know I loved Jeff, when the truth is, I didn't even like him that much," she confessed.

Her emotions intertwined with anger and resentment as she expressed her newfound realization, “and I’m so mad at Shauna, but now I realize, she’s right,” Jackie affirmed, her words laced with a certain conviction. “Our friendship doesn't matter. Love doesn't matter. They're just things that we use to pretend that we aren’t gonna end up like that dead cabin guy, like rotted-out husks in some bullshit attic,” she spat out with resentful anger. "Of course, that's how it ends. That's all we are the whole time. It doesn't matter. We're just empty shells with nothing inside."

She fell silent, her gaze locked with yours as if searching for a response, a reaction. “So, fuck it. Fuck everything and everyone,” she concluded, her voice filled with a mix of anger and resignation.

With her powerful declaration hanging in the air, Jackie returned her gaze to the crackling bonfire, her eyes reflecting a complex mix of emotions. The flames danced and flickered, casting an ethereal glow on her face. The silence enveloped both of you, punctuated only by the crackling of the fire and the distant sounds of nature.

You took a moment to absorb her raw emotions, looking at her with genuine concern. "Wow, um... Look, I get what you mean," you began, trying to gather your thoughts. "I know it's been tough for you to adjust here. We all see it, and I get why some of the others might have been tough on you. It's a messed-up situation we're in, you know? I mean, our fucking plane crashed, it's not something we can just brush off and move on from. And yeah, it may seem like everyone's moving on fast, but the truth is, we're all scared shitless."

As you held her hand, you felt a slight easing of tension in her furrowed brows. "I’ll help you find something to do, yeah? Maybe not skinning animals like Shauna does," you joked, coaxing a small smile from Jackie. "But seriously, I can show you how to wash clothes or chop wood, or we can find something else you enjoy. I promise we'll figure it out together." You assured her, your own smile conveying sincerity and reassurance.

She gazed at you with eyes filled with a mix of emotions, listening attentively to your heartfelt words. "And let me tell you something, Jackie. You're far from being an empty shell. Seriously. I mean it," you emphasized, your voice filled with sincerity. "You're genuinely one of the kindest people I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because we're best friends. It's the truth." You continued, “Remember that time at a party when Tai, Shauna, and Nat were all at each other's throats after Tai accidentally broke Allie's leg? Literally, not even ten minutes later, everyone was laughing and happy again, and it was all thanks to you," you recalled, a soft smile playing on your lips.

Jackie's smile grew, her cheeks turning a subtle shade of pink as she remembered that moment. "You really think so?" she asked shyly.

"Absolutely," you replied earnestly, meeting her eyes with unwavering sincerity. "You're amazing, Jackie, truly. And I want you to know that. You bring light into people's lives, including mine."

Her smile widened, gratitude shining in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice filled with genuine appreciation. "It means a lot to hear that from you, especially right now."

📻 𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 Seventeen by Sharon Van Etten

The familiar melody filled the air, and Jackie's face lit up with happiness. "Oh my god, I love this song! It's been forever since I've heard it," she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Memories flooded back of those times when she would blast the song in Shauna's car, the two of you belting out the lyrics while going to school. As she unplugged the earphones from the walkman, the music swelled, reaching a volume that allowed both of you to enjoy it without disturbing the others.

Jackie rose to her feet and extended her hand towards you, a playful glimmer in her eyes. Without hesitation, you clasped her hand, and she tugged you closer to her, starting to dance around the crackling bonfire. At that moment, all your worries seemed to fade into the background, carried away by the whimsical gusts of wind.

As you danced and spun with Jackie, enjoying the carefree moment, something caught your eye. You looked up and couldn't believe what you saw.

"Holy fuck, it's snowing!" you blurted out, your excitement evident in your voice. Snowflakes were falling from the sky, landing gently on your clothes and the ground around you. It was unexpected but absolutely magical.

Jackie's face lit up with a big smile as she looked up at the snowflakes. She grabbed your hand, pulling you closer as you both continued to dance in the snowfall. The chilly air adding to the thrill of the moment.

After an hour of dancing, the energy began to fade, and both of you collapsed onto the now snowy ground, feeling the cold seep through your clothes. Looking up at the sky, you were captivated by the sight of countless twinkling stars, their beauty shining brightly.

As small snowflakes gently landed on your faces, you turned to glance at Jackie, finding her already gazing at you with a gentle smile. The cold air made your breath visible, but the warmth in her eyes made you feel cozy inside.

She shattered the serene silence, her voice piercing through the calm air. "Do you know when I realized I never actually liked Jeff?" she asked. The unexpected topic left you both curious and confused, and you furrowed your eyes, silently urging her to continue.

"It was the night before the crash, at the party," she began, her voice tinged with reminiscence. "I remember seeing you with him, dancing together, laughing uncontrollably. It was all platonic, obviously. I knew you would never have that kind of feelings for him. But still, I couldn't help feeling jealous. At first, I thought it was jealousy towards you, for dancing with him like that. But I was wrong," she assured, her tone filled with certainty. "I was angry because you looked so fucking beautiful and happy. Seeing you laugh like that with him instead of me, it shattered me," she confessed, her words heavy with emotion.

You were left speechless, unable to fathom that Jackie, of all people, would ever express such feelings to you. Before your thoughts could fully process what she just said, she continued speaking, her voice barely faltering.

"I tried to ignore it, blaming it on the alcohol. 'I was just jealous because of Jeff,' I kept telling myself," she explained, her words tinged with self-reflection. "But it hit me right after the plane crash. All I could think about was you, finding you and knowing you were safe. And when I saw you unconscious on the ground, drenched in blood, all I felt was regret. Regret for not telling you how much I love you, that I’m so fucking in love with you. And I-"

​​Before she could finish her sentence, you seized the moment, crashing your lips together. It was a tender yet desperate kiss, one that you had longed to share with her. You lied to Shauna, pretending that your feelings for Jackie had dissipated, but in truth, they had only grown stronger.

The kiss lingered for a moment, filled with unspoken words and years of pent-up emotions. As you finally pulled away, you gazed into Jackie's eyes, searching for confirmation that what just happened was real.

Jackie's expression mirrored your own. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, "I never thought... I never imagined this would happen."

You mustered the courage to express what you had suppressed for far too long. "Jackie, I've loved you for so long. I felt like absolute shit when you started dating Jeff, but my feelings never truly faded. I've tried to move on, to convince myself that we were just best friends, but I just couldn't do it."

"I love you, Y/n," Jackie whispered, a gentle smile gracing her lips as she delicately ran her fingers through your hair.

Feeling a surge of warmth in your heart, you couldn't help but respond, "I love you too, Jackie. So much." Leaning in, you planted a tender peck on her lips. "Let's head inside now, yeah? Before we catch a cold."

Jackie nodded in agreement, her eyes sparkling with affection. With your hands entwined, the two of you walked back to the cabin, leaving the chilly air behind you.

[ut-obsession]

Underverse is getting discontinued due to harassment and hate form the toxic parts of the utmv community

Before I continue, this is a rant and I will swear! So yeah, if you don’t like that, scroll by, or read it anyway.

ANYWAYS

I’m just going to say that’s fucked up like no animator or any undertale fan should have to step back from what they love because some IDIOT doesn’t like it. You don’t like it? Move on.

I seriously can’t understand why there’s so much toxicity. Like come on. It’s not hard to just bite your tongue and not go harass a creator.

What Jakei created is something that they worked extremely hard on. I mean they animated fuckin FATAL ERROR. Like that’s just insane. But still these people can’t even appreciate that?

And just in general, the utmv is something so many people contribute to and love, and there are so many amazing and beautiful things people created in it. Should we really be casting aside the creations they lovingly made because someone doesn’t like it?

I hope that Jakei can find some peace after 0.8 is published. Wishing them the best, and some rest since I know they had to deal with some health issues during the creation of underverse. I’ll miss counting the days until the next episode, but I really hope that Jakei can really get some rest. And NyxTheSheild for working so hard on the soundtrack.

I always hate when artists get this shit for someone not liking it. I’m always saying how the utmv and undertale community in general is pretty casual and appreciative of the game and fan made things, but this is a look into the toxicity in every single fandom out there. Even a game about kindness and mercy still has toxic people in its community.

What’s worse is I already know it’s too hard to stop this without a huge fight, and I don’t know if I can be the one to start it, but I do hope Jakei having to quit over toxicity can bring more attention to a major issue in not only the fandom but society as a whole.

In my own attempt to start actually working towards a kinder community, if you make a similar post or reblog this, use #end toxicity. If it’s trending, maybe something will start. Maybe not. Can’t say for sure. And I know this could flop anyway.

[oleever-does-stuff]

TADC Yapfest Timeee

As a certified yapper, the need to shove my random assortment of ideas down your throat has been tearing me apart. Therefore, I deem it yapfest time. Also, media literacy is apparently at an all-time low and I am nothing but a product of the environment I am molded in and I require you to understand that.

~♡~

Do you guys know that face Caine made when talking about mixing up NPCs and humans? What do you guys think that implied? Was it a red herring or hinting at something else? Because I so happen to have two things going on in my head.

Firstly and most obviously, I believe that some of the cast are NPCs in disguise. This first came to me with the realization that Jax, Pomni, and Ragatha all sound like real names (Jack or just...Jax, Penny, and Agatha) while Gangle and Zooble didn't (unless there are names similar in other countries I'm unaware of). Then I remembered that Kinger exists, and if Kinger is an NPC I won't recover. The idea that Zooble might be an NPC does seem likely to me for a multitude of reasons.

The first reason: Zooble's refusal to go on Caine's adventures. I doubt an NPC would like to go anywhere in a fake world after discovering what you were. Secondly, Zooble (to me) looks vastly different from the rest of the cast. She looks like she doesn't belong with the other circus members. I can't really find the description of what the rest of the cast looks like other than neat, while Zooble is just a jumble of objects and assortments. It looks like she belonged to a different world and ended up there. That might just be cool character design though and I'm an idiot. Overall Zooble just seems out of place but that might just be because it's episode ONE.

My second idea, one thats been lingering in my mind that Caine himself is human and just forgot after being there for so long. While maybe not as coherent or has as much supportive evidence as the previous it's still there. Perhaps Caine worked for the company that created the Circus, was put in there to run the first run-through, but never made it out. If he was the first trapee, maybe he would have been given host commands, and that would explain why he was the control of the circus (like a party leader).

~♡~

Within my no-sleep-filled fever dream of a mind, this led me to another conclusion. If people had been around this long, why was the game so unfinished? Why were people from the outside not helping. Now this is where my incompetency comes in because due to the Caine actually being human thing I had the idea, maybe the Circus project was abandoned, and that's why the game itself is so unfinished with people abstracting, no exit, things glitching in and out of the world so easily. After Caine they were just like "Oh shit, yeah let's not work on this no more", but people still end up finding their way in. (I also had the idea, as my boyfriend keeps trying to put random numbers in this paragraph, perhaps they queued too many testees. Every time someone abstracts, the next person in line joins but has no memory of that wait.) There's that one thing about Pomni working for the company that created TADC, +8and like I'm not well-versed in TADC theory and canon things I watched like maybe 2 episodes, saw a couple funny posts but...

The place looks run down, abandoned. What self-respecting office space would allow papers to litter the floor. Or a dusty, moldy-looking computer.

It looks like the company abandoned the workplace, this project, everything. Maybe Pomni got put in a queue of sorts, waited until there was an open space available to play. (Kaufmo. R.I.P)

~♡~

A different tangent. I saw something that mentioned TADC was inspired by "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream". Although I'm unaware how true that is, it does lead me to wonder what the end for Pomni will be like. Will she end up saving the others from the digital hell, but be stuck there forever in return? Would she end up as Caine or be stuck with him to live out eternity?

also this is 100% going to be a problem, look at all of them just chilling.

I wrote this tangent at almost midnight, please forgive me I will edit in the morning (Afternoon).

Edited: more well written

[lemotmo]

https://www.tumblr.com/lemotmo/767429996917784576/very-interesting-and-i-hate-to-say-that-i-tend-to

I genuinely agree with all of this that both you and Ali said.

I also think the solution to the Bathena issue is give them a season long story arc. That way they can have a little bit in each episode instead of needing multiple episodes entirely focused on them. It easily gives them room to breathe and pace the story. Include outside people. Find ways to work in both their jobs if need be. Pull the fire fam in and out as needed. And bring it to a nice conclusion by episode 18 and maybe even set up the next seasons story arc.

It also tremendously frees them up to focus on the rest of the cast and their storylines. Like imagine if that’s how this season was going. The writers weren’t having to dedicate 2-3 episodes at a time constantly to just Bathena while the rest of the cast make brief appearances but guest star A-D are focused in on because it’s a solely a Bathena episode arc. Because instead Bathena has that season long plot and they are getting movement each episode, then Eddie would get movement in his stories. Henren can get follow up on their stories. Buck can explore himself. Madney can progress from one kid to two kids etc.

I just think it would work so much better for all involved giving Bathena one single long reach plot vs giving them 2,3 or 4 plots that take up multiple episodes at a time.

Yeah I agree. That does sound like a much better way to structure a season.